"Well, what then?" I asked impatiently, and indignant at the plot between the dead woman and the gardener to force Miss Monk into unwilling matrimony.
"Then I heard a voice in the shop calling for Mrs. Caldershaw. She went away, and shortly afterwards returned to ask me to leave at once. There was someone who wished to speak to her, and she did not wish me to meet this person. Therefore she asked me to leave at once."
"Did you know who this person was?"
Gertrude hesitated. "I could answer you that frankly," she said, after a pause, "as I caught a glimpse of the person through the half-open shop door. The mere sight of this person sent me away, as I did not wish to meet----" Here she hesitated.
"Him or her?" I asked inquisitively.
"I would rather not say just now," she replied with reserve.
"But you must say," I insisted. "Don't you see that this person, whether man or woman, may have been the one who murdered Mrs. Caldershaw."
She grew pale. "I have thought of that myself," she said hurriedly, "therefore I refuse to tell you who the person was. If a certain contingency happens I shall speak out."
"You won't tell me now?" I said, somewhat wounded.
"No. Don't ask me to. Perhaps later on." She seemed greatly distressed. "You see it's a terrible thing for me to give the name of a person who might be accused of the crime. If this person was hanged, even if guilty, I should not be able to rest in my bed." She shuddered and burst into tears. "My position is very hard," she wailed.